


Beautiful Mistakes.

by PancakeCake



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crush, F/M, Fluff, LadyNoir - Freeform, Platonic Love, Tumblr AU, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:37:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7792621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PancakeCake/pseuds/PancakeCake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette has a habit of sending asks to her favorite Tumblr user, telling him seeing his blog makes her happy, and that she’s glad he’s alive. It’s been a while for now and people have started to ship them, even though Marinette has never had the courage to reveal her true identity. One day, she forgets to switch to anonymous and sends one of her usual asks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anonymous Love

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't stop thinking about this until I wrote it!

Marinette first found him by accident. Or destiny, how she prefers to call it.

She had a Tumblr for a couple of years by then, and she only reblogged fashion related content to her main blog, and sometimes she would share some of her own designs. For some reasons she was famous. Not that it bothered her at all, but it was hard to believe she had such large support from unknown people from the internet.

She never truly understood the feeling of having a favorite blog, and being happy with their updates. Maybe it was something just _some_ people would experience. She would get tons of messages telling her she was amazing and that her blog always made them smile. She never doubted the truth in those messages, but it was something she wasn’t lucky to have experienced.

Her life was simple; She would wake up pretty early in the morning and go to the gym, then help her parents with their bakery before going to school. Finally, she’d get home and she'd spend some daily time working on school and personal projects. Before sleeping, she’d spend some time on Tumblr.

One day, one of the people she followed reblogged a text post she instantly reblogged to her side blog; this one was different from her main blog, she would reblog photos, text posts, food, memes and other things she liked apart from fashion. As she kept scrolling, she saw more posts from the same blog. She was surprised about how she liked every single post she saw from it.

She was feeling really sleepy, but decided to go and see said blog. It was supposed to be quick, just go, check a couple of posts to decide whether to follow it or not—though she was confident she’d do it in the end— and then go to sleep and continue with her monotonous life.

At least it was supposed to be that way.

She instantly fell in love, if you could call love the feeling she felt when she scrolled through the posts. Apparently, the blog belonged to a guy the same age as her. His description was simple.

 

_**I’m Chat Noir! I’m 1X years old. I love anime, video games, memes, cats and I believe in true love! PD. I’m a guy, and I love to make new friends.** _

 

He reblogged photos of beautiful places, people, clothes, animals and food, mostly pastries. He also shared text posts about love, puns, memes and jokes. His own posts were text posts and some photos of his daily life, like the games he’d be playing, the food he’d have eaten and places he’d have been.

Marinette noticed there wasn’t a single photo of him on his blog, but it didn’t bother her. She fell in love with the blog and its content, not with the person. She had to restrain herself from liking and reblogging every single post – original or not– from it. She laughed at the jokes and puns, she read the big posts about love and smiled, feeling a sudden warmness in her chest. She read the mini comics about Pokemon and other fandoms and almost shared a tear or laughed pretty hard. She saw the pictures and the more she scrolled the more she noticed how much Chat Noir and she had much in common.

It was something new to her. She and her best friend Alya had always been close since they first met, they had a lot in common, but they never had as much as she believed she had in common with Chat Noir. She had the urged to message him and tell him she wanted to be friends with him.

But she was nervous. Really nervous. She soon discovered Chat Noir was quite famous, owning no less than 27K followers. Maybe it was his wonderful taste in photography, or the sweet text posts he shared, or maybe because he was such a nerd. Who knows. The only certainty was; Chat Noir was as popular as he was interesting.

As she stalked him, she also noticed how sweet and nice he was with his followers, it didn’t matter if they asked him as anonymous or as themselves. She was about to send him an ask when she noticed it was 3:55AM. She’d have to wake up in two hours if she didn’t want to mess with her usual morning routine. She sighed and turned her phone off after she pressed the “Follow” option in the right top on the screen.

How can someone spend around 4 hours in one blog and don’t even notice it?

Not even five minutes passed when Marinette turned on her phone again and send an ask in anonymous.

 

_**Hello! I just wanted to tell you that I loved your blog and I think you’re amazing. Finding you made me really, really happy. I think I just fell in love!! I just spent four hours scrolling without me noticing, and now it’s 4AM!! Hahaha.** _

 

She quickly went to sleep. That night she dreamt of Chat Noir replying her, and the designs she had to finish that week.

When her alarm rang, she woke up and got ready to go to the gym. Marinette was a clumsy girl but she was really interested in being healthy and fit. Someone would say she wouldn’t be that kind of girl since her parents owned _only_ the _best_ bakery of France, and she looked really fragile. Though, maybe it was because she was always tripping and dropping everything she had in her hands.

After the gym and helping her parents in the bakery, she went to school and had a really bad time trying not to fall asleep. It is common between artists to be able to endure several nights without sleeping due to a close deadline, but Marinette soon learned she was a really distracted girl and she’d need to keep an agenda with all her deadlines and dates –which were mostly with Alya, and sometimes some other friends from school— and soon her life gained a stable rhythm of activities and sleeping schedule. She was not used to sleep less than five hours a day.

Maybe she was influenced by Alya. her best friend managed to go to school, keep a popular blog with several and well formulated articles, spend time with her boyfriend and her, and have time for her hobbies and other activities she liked to do. The power of a perfectly organized schedule was amazing.

Though Marinette wasn’t as good as her best friend on doing several activities without getting stressed, she managed to get recognized as a really organized, hardworking, leader-type kind of person by her friends and other people who hired her to do designs, despite her young age.

She was also famous on Tumblr for the same attributes people would claim her to have in real life. Some people started to tell her she was l _ucky as a ladybug_ for having so many petitions of freelance work, which soon developed into a cute nickname Alya and her parents, and most of her friends would use to refer to her. She got used to the nickname and got attached to it.

When she got home she worked on her projects, forgetting all about the ask she sent Chat Noir before going to sleep. Maybe it was her tiredness, or her being used to monotony.

When the clock hit 11:00PM, Marinette was ready to go to bed. Before unlocking her cell phone, she noticed she received an answer from Chat Noir. She soon got nervous and took some time before clicking the notification and read it.

 

_**I’m glad it made you smile! I hope you are not too tired today. You made me smile with your message, Anon!** _

 

 His response came with a gif of a cute little black cat meowing. It looked a lot as if it was smiling. She thought it was really cute and sweet coming from him.

Marinette felt something warm in her heart, something she never felt before. She convinced herself it was because that’d be the first time someone would answer her as an anonymous and not as herself, the 'popular' fashion blog.

She scrolled through his blog again, seeing the new content trying to contain the urge to like and reblog everything, again. She knew in that moment it was the beginning of something big.

 

 

A month passed before she sent her next anonymous ask. Chat Noir was always happy and funny, but sometimes he’d post personal posts talking about how he needed a hug. In his tags section he’d put how stressed he was with his life, and how he wanted to do things for himself. These posts received tons of messages and he’d usually get a bunch of asks telling him to keep doing his best, even though he’d delete his depressing posts after a couple of hours.

It was something really strange. Marinette started to feel like if she _liked_ Chat Noir. They not only shared a lot of things in common, but also, he was the most kind, funny, sweet and strong guy she’d ever met. Well, ' _known'_ in a way.

After seeing a couple of sad posts from him, she started to send asks telling him he was amazing and that she truly loved him the way he was. Marinette felt ‘love’ was the right word to use, even though she wasn’t sure of how Chat Noir would take it. Maybe he’d think she was a stalker and he would feel uncomfortable.

She soon gained confidence again when Chat Noir replied to every single ask she sent, in the sweetest and most friendly way possible.

Marinette didn’t notice when it happened, but one day it was part of her daily routine to scroll through Chat Noir’s blog and leave an ask before going to sleep. She started to sign her asks with the ladybug emoji, and people started to respect the situation. Not even once had someone tried to steal her anonymous identity and, as weird as it sounds, she and Chat Noir started to be friends.

People would soon start to ship them, and Chat Noir would always insist her to reveal herself. Marinette was happy to know Chat Noir wanted to know more about her, but at the same time she was happy because of the anonymous mask protecting her from getting more attached to him.

 

“Girl, when are you going to tell me about him?” Alya said out of nowhere once when they were at a café.

Marinette spitted her coffee “Him?? W-what do you mean? There’s not a ‘him’ in my life Alya, that’s ridiculous!!” Marinette faked a smile, which came out sounding really fake and nervous.

“You’re always staring at your phone with a smile in your face, and even your mom told me you’ve been distracted all day because of it.”

“W-well,” Marinette blushed. At this point, she knew she had a crush on Chat Noir, but it was something really complicated to explain since they didn’t really know each other “you know how I am, always distracted!”

“It’s different now, you seem… happier. In a different way than before.” Alya pressed.

“I’m just… Happy about my projects coming out well and those kind of stuff.”

“Come on Marinetteeeeee. You have been single all your life, if there’s a guy you like you have to tell me as soon as you start to like him!”

“I-I don’t like anybody!” Marinette was as red as a tomato.

“Then why are you blushing so much! You are lying!” Alya pressed Marinette’s cheeks with both hands. The touch felt cold. She knew it was because her cheeks were warm because of the embarrassment.

“I-It’s complicated okay!” Marinette freed herself from Alya’s hands and hide her face between her own.

“I knew it!” Alya was happy with the discovery “How is it complicated? Is he older? Does he work and doesn’t have much time? Or… don’t tell me he’s a player or a gangster??” Alya suddenly changed from happy to angered and worried really quick.

“No, no. Nothing like that.”

“Then just explain to me. I’m sure is not complicated at all!” Alya’s eyes were filled with excitement and Marinette gave up. She uncovered her face and sighed.

“I think I have a crush.” Marinette started.

“Yes??” Alya couldn’t contain her excitement anymore.

“W-with a guy I follow on Tumblr.”

There was not a quick response from Alya. She just stayed there, processing what she just heard.

“What?”

“I know, it’s ridiculous! But I started to follow this really cool blog like eight months ago and the owner posts some personal stuff now and then and one day I noticed I had a crush on him. I don’t even know how it happened! It’s completely ridiculous, so ridiculous!”

“Okay...But, tell me more. Have you seen a picture of him? Is he handsome? Have you two been online dating or something?” Alya’s face was filled with doubt.

“I haven’t seen a single picture of him… and, we talk but in a different way…”

“What do you mean by ‘a different way’?”

“I… I send him anonymous asks and he replies them.” Marinette said as fast as she could, and then she let a go of a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding.

Alya was in shock. Marinette didn’t expect her to be this shocked, but she herself knew it was something weird to do if you had a crush on someone. But it was even weirder to have a crush on someone by only looking at their blog, she supposed.

“Don’t tell me this guy is Chat Noir??”

Now Marinette was the one on a shock. How did Alya knew about this?? Her question was quickly answered by her unconsciousness. The whole situation was really popular by now, and people were talking about who would be this mysterious girl who had Chat Noir so in love.

Of course, she knew this statement wasn’t true. Chat Noir started to be flirtatious after the third month of receiving the daily asks, but she took it as if Chat Noir was just joking and being nice to her. What else could it be?

“Y-Yes…”

“Oh my God Marinette, are you Ladybug????”

“I-I guess so…”

“What do you mean by ‘I guess so’, of course you are! Oh my God, oh my God. I can’t believe I know who Ladybug is!!! With this notice I’d get so much attention to my blog!”

“Wait, you can’t do that to me!!!”

“Oh no, no, I’m sorry I just got a little carried away. Of course I wouldn’t do that to you Marinette. But did you know everyone I know wants to find out who Ladybug is?  I can’t believe it’s you!”

“But I don’t understand. I know he’s a famous Tumblr user and the whole situation is quite popular, but isn’t it getting too much attention from people?”

“People _love_ love stories, Marinette!”

“T-This is not a love story!”

“Then why are you blushing!” Alya laughed “You have to reveal yourself! He wants to know who you are so bad!!”

“He’s not!! We’re just playing around!”

“Of course he does! He likes you Marinette! How can you be so blind!!”  
“Alya, you’re just getting too excited here. I may have a crush on him but this is not a love story at all.”

“It absolutely is! And oh my God I can’t believe it. Chat Noir, and the fashion princess of Tumblr.”

“I-I am not the fashion princess!!”

“How many followers do you have? I stopped asking after you reached 44K.”

“Shut up!!”

“My point is, he’s like a prince and you’re a princess in disguise. It's a _love story_ , _baby, just say_ _yes_.” Alya sang the last part and Marinette started laughing.

“Please, stop. I am not going to tell him who I am and he _doesn’t_ like me.”

“Marinette, please, you’re in denial. Is it because he’s a model?”

“What? He’s not a model!”

Alya laughed “Don’t tell me you really don’t know who Chat Noir is.”

“What? Why would I know who he is? The only thing I know is we both have the same age and he likes the same things I like.”

Alya face-palmed and sighed “Girl, girl. What am I going to do with you?”

“Wait, I don’t understand! Is he a model? And why would you know that?”

“You know what, I’ll tell you this: Tonight, when you send him the usual lovely asks you send him all the time, ask him to take a selfie for you. I am sure he’d do it happily.”

“Should I be afraid of this?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll be shocked, but it’s not something bad. I have to say that, for a first crush he’s quite the big price.” Alya winked.

“What?”

“He’s handsome, girl! And not only that! Once you see him you’ll understand what I mean!”

“You say it like if you knew him.”

“I met him once when I made an interview for my blog. Not much people know about this, and I promised him I wouldn’t say anything about his real identity in my blog or job!”

“But if it’s a secret maybe I shouldn’t ask such selfish request.”

“It's not selfish, it’s just equivalent. Tell him you’ll reveal yourself if he posts a selfie of him. It’s completely fair. An identity reveal for another identity reveal.”

“I-I don’t want to reveal myself!”

“You’ll eventually have to! You can’t stay like this forever!!”

 

Maybe she couldn’t stay like that forever, but she could at least try to extend the time as much as she could.

For a couple of months, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She started to throw some hints of revealing herself in exchange of knowing who he was. Chat Noir always answered he would do anything to know who his Lady was. Marinette wondered how bad would it be if she decided to let him know her identity.

Ten months passed really fast, and Chat Noir was now an important part of her life. They didn’t know each other as deeply as they would if they could communicate in a normal way, such as in chat, but they knew just enough to be considered friends, or maybe more than that. Chat Noir started to tell people his heart belonged to his Lady, whenever someone confessed or told him they had a crush on him, and every time Marinette read these kind of answers she’d blush and roll her eyes.

Thanks to the daily asks she’d make to Chat Noir, Marinette started to leave some asks on her favorited blogs, telling them how much she liked them or to leave a word of encouragement from her main blog. Marinette’s life was not monotonous anymore, it was filled with life and new experiences every day.

Sometime after the conversation with Alya, Marinette started to submit pictures to Chat Noir’s blog of her daily life; what she ate, a beautiful sunset, the books she was reading, things that reminded her of him and such. Chat Noir would love it when Marinette did that, or at least it seemed like it. He’d answer with pictures of his day and from time to time he’d post pictures or text posts of things he wanted to share with his Lady.

Chat Noir now had a special tag for her. It was ‘Buginette’, and if you entered to the tag you’d see things he reblogged that reminded him of her, pictures or texts of his daily life, inviting her to do the same as him, piano songs he played for her, some little doodles and related posts. Marinette would also draw things for him, making sure to make her style different enough to not give herself away, and sometimes she’d also invite him to do the same things as her.

 

One day, she took a photo of the blue sea salt ice-cream she liked so much. Her pink long nails were beautifully painted –Chat Noir loved to see her nails painted with that specific colour. He once said it reminded him of her and she decided to paint her nails in that colour for the photos where her nails were shown– and she was wearing a bracelet Chat Noir suggested her to buy so they could match.

 

_**Hello, my Chaton! Wouldn’t you want to eat ice cream with me?** _

 

She sent the Submission and kept eating her ice cream. Usually it wouldn’t take long for Chat Noir to reply, but that day she waited and waited and never got an answer. Before sleeping, she sent an ask to know if he was okay. After a couple of minutes, he answered, declaring his perpetual love for her. She waited to see if she’d get an answer from her submission earlier that day, but she never got it.

Intrigued by it, she sent another ask, talking about the ice cream ask. Chat Noir replied _seconds_ later, telling her that he received it, and that _he would keep her secret and he would obviously do as he promised he’d do after knowing_. Marinette wondered what did he mean by that.

Before fully falling asleep she received a message from Chat Noir. A direct message to her main blog. Her blood went cold and for a moment she thought she was dreaming. The message was simple and direct.

She quickly tried to remember if she shifted to ‘anonymous’ before sending the submission. She realized she didn’t. Her cheeks suddenly felt hot and it was hard to breathe. Her heart beating as fast as it could possibly go and her mind trying to think if someone could possibly die from embarrassment.

 

_**Buginette? Is that you?** _

__

She panicked. She took long slow breathes as she remembered what Chat Noir answered in her last ask. ‘He would do as he promised he’d do after knowing’? What did it mean? Did he mean about the selfie?

With trembling hands, half excited and half dead from embarrassment she entered to Chat Noir’s blog again. The first image to be shown was a photo of a blond model she well knew. The text down the photo was a simple ‘As I promise, my Lady.’, tagged with selfie, Buginette, and capitalized text saying he was dying because he waited so long for that precise moment to come.

Marinette’s mind was still processing everything when the pieces started to fit and finally made sense.

 

Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste. The son of her idol, Gabriel Agreste.


	2. Mysterious Lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some unfortunate events I decided to stop writing. Or better put, I couldn't write anymore. 
> 
> I don't know why this keeps getting Kudos, but in the end it was the reason I finished it. This started as something inspired by someone, and it will end thanks to your support. The last two chapters are inspired on all of you who left comments and kudos.
> 
> Thanks for reading my fics, even though my English isn't perfect and I'm not good enough to be called a writer.

It had to be destiny, or a _beautiful mistake_ , as Adrien liked to see it.

Have you ever had the need to go back as far as you can into the past to try and find the very exact moment when everything started?

Adrien felt it, as strong as the strength of the first love made him feel it. He was disappointed when he noticed his lady started to use her identity as Ladybug after she sent her first messages.

In fact, it seemed like she had sent several messages to him before using her usual ladybug emoji to distinct herself from other anons. He went a couple of months back and the first message he found with the ladybug emoji was this one:

 

**Anonymous** said:

_Hello, my kitty! It’s been a couple of days since my last ask. From the text post you shared earlier, I think what I like the most about you, is how sweet you are with everyone. And, a friend shared some of your posts some time ago and I loved your blog and immediately started following you! That’s how I found you. Sometimes I think it was destiny, and some other times I think it was a beautiful mistake, because now I can’t stop coming to your blog every day. Have a wonderful day tomorrow! -LB._

A beautiful mistake. It was Ladybug’s words, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He knew even though Ladybug used the word “mistake” she didn’t mean it in a negative way.

He scrolled even further into the past. He was used to get several asks every day, so he wasn’t completely sure what anon was originally his sweet Ladybug. Maybe he’d never know, at least not if he never managed to discover Ladybug’s real identity.

He chose some messages and decided to believe those were the first messages Ladybug sent him, but at the same time he felt he needed to know the exact moment and the exact messages she really sent him.

He had been on Tumblr for almost five years. He used it to distract himself from the monotonous life he had. Every time he would feel sad or bored, he would log in and laugh at vines, memes and text posts. He’d also share some love related content, and some personal text posts.

He’d wake up pretty early in the morning. Natalie, after making sure he was ready, would start reading the schedule for that day. Sometimes it’d be a photoshoot, a formal event, lunch with older people or other boring activities.

He had always been home-schooled. He had to practice piano at least one hour and a half a day, study his subjects and practice his Chinese and sgrima. His life was really interesting from the outside, and he loved to do every single thing he practiced, but he still felt somewhat empty. Something was missing from his life, and excitement soon abandoned him as he started to grow up and everything kept unchanged.

This excitement was recovered when Ladybug appeared in his life.

He would excitedly wait every night for Ladybug´s anonymous message wishing him luck next day. This was something new to him, and he knew it; it had to be love.

Love takes time and boy, Adrien spent more than a year and a half crushing on a mysterious lady.

First, he felt a warm sensation when Ladybug started to message him every day. He started to feel like he belonged somewhere. Then he started to feel hot every time Ladybug shared something about her daily life, such as photos or videos.

Thanks to the videos and photos he knew Ladybug was living in Paris, but it was impossible for him to find her with so little information and vague hints.

He would try his hardest to visit the places where Ladybug was when she took some of the photos and videos. It made him feel even closer to her, and he kept hoping he might see her someday.

Anyway, doing so was hard. His father was really strict with his time outside the house, but Natalie would let him make small get aways into some coffee shops and some restaurants from time to time. Natalie was always like this, she always did her best to make him smile, even if it was just a little.

Maybe he never got the chance to run into Ladybug in person, but he knew that whenever he stared at the sky, Ladybug could be staring at it too somewhere not so far away, and that thought made him keep his hopes up.

He tried to find her several times. He once typed “Ladybug” on Tumblr´s tags and the top blog was the famous “Fashion Princess”, a girl who was popular on Tumblr for her excellent taste in clothes and her enormous talent as a young fashion designer. He knew the name of the girl because she had the opportunity to work for his father after she won a contest. Her name was Marinette.

He and his father were really surprised when Natalie told them the winner was a girl with the same age as Adrien. He’d never forget her name, he admired her in many ways even though they haven’t had the chance to meet in person.

Despite the possibility of his lady being the Fashion Princess—because she followed him and sometimes she liked some of his posts, he decided to drop it. He shouldn’t project his desires to find her into a famous fashion girl on Tumblr, no matter how much he admired her.

He was really close to message her though. For a couple of days, he was tempted to do it, but he would always give up before actually doing it.

He was sure his lady _could_ be famous, but at the same time he knew she was a normal girl with normal hobbies and the sensation he felt whenever he thought of her was the same he felt when his mother was still around; the feeling of being in home, the feeling of being happy and not alone. Ladybug was a normal person, not someone unapproachable or some kind of Goddess.

Well, she was kind of unapproachable with all the anonymous situation, but she was the cutest and sweetest girl Adrien knew- well, kind of knew. After one year of answering her anonymous messages every day, Adrien was completely sure he loved that girl, it didn’t matter how she looked or who she was in real life when she was not protected by the anonymous mask.

It was a complicated feeling. He knew he loved her, but he fell for her without even knowing her real name, how her face looked and knowing just too little about her real self.

For him it wasn’t that strange, but he knew people would think _he_ was strange. Deep inside he knew he didn’t care too much about other people’s opinion, but what if Ladybug thought he was strange because he fell in love with her under the current situation? He would absolutely care if it was the case.

He decided to ignore it- at least most of the times. He wanted to know her blog so bad, it was super unfair, Ladybug got to see his blog but he couldn´t see anything from her but the things she sent.

Not that he was being ungrateful since Ladybug sent pictures, videos and text posts quite often during the day, but as the time passed, he felt it wasn’t enough. He wanted to know her, to _truly know her_. He wanted to have private conversations, know her dreams, fears and all the things she hid from everyone else. The things she was afraid to say aloud, those private things that are shared only with your closest acquittances.

He was looking for a deeper connection. He wanted to be the closest friend with the person who made him this happy and excited about everything again.  

Being the closest friend didn’t mean spend all their time together, but to know each other so well that even when they were apart, he could truly understand her and support her the way she needed and deserved. It also meant for him to close his eyes and know deep down in his heart Ladybug trusted him the way he trusted her.

Adrien had the fear that someday Ladybug would disappear from his life without a notice, and it didn’t look so impossible since his luck had never been so good.

He knew he would be really sad, and he knew it would be impossible from him to truly forget her, but at the same time he knew his life wouldn’t stop if she wasn’t there.

Is this how love feels? She made him feel powerful, and the thought of losing her made him sad, but not helplessly lost. Even if Ladybug had to go away from his life someday, he would treasure every memory and everything she ever did for him, and live his life the best he could. Just like he did when his mother…

It’s true Adrien thought it wasn’t enough, but oh, it was perfect even in its imperfection. It was worth it, it was comforting. She was home.

 

\--

 

“Hello?” Adrien asked as he picked up an unknown call. He never gave his personal number to anyone, and he didn’t have much friends. He wasn’t sure what to expect from it.

“Hello, Chat Noir” The mysterious voice said.

 

Adrien froze. First of all, he was pretty sure no one knew about his Tumblr. Second, it was the voice of a girl, and since he didn’t have her number saved, it could be anyone but someone he knew. Before he had the opportunity to say anything, the girl laughed.

 

“I’m sorry, my name is Alya. Do you remember me? I had an interview with you some months ago. You game me your personal number because we spoke a bit afterwards. I never called you until now”.

He sighed in relief. Alya, he remembered her. She was the leader of the Ladyblog, a fan club of people loving the idea of him and Ladybug being a thing. He met her before Ladybug came into his life, but he had some interviews with her afterwards.

The last time they saw each other, he admitted being Chat Noir and that he was deeply in love with Ladybug. Alya told him that she would do anything to find her, and if that day arrived she would tell him right away. He then gave her his personal phone number and then eventually forgot about it.

“Oh yeah, I remember you. I’m sorry” Adrien giggled “you surprised me”.

“Wait for it boy, I haven’t even said anything”.

Adrien’s heart skipped a beat. He remembered what Alya said the last time he saw her, that she would call him once she found out Ladybug’s identity. He tried not choke and tried to breathe normally.

“What do you mean?”.

“Well, let’s just say I just got home after a date with your mysterious lady”.

 

Adrien’s cheeks felt hot.

He waited for this moment for months. At the same time, he felt bad about it because he knew Ladybug was against revealing her identity, and he would prefer if she personally told him. He also felt a little jealous, how many people out there knew Ladybug’s real identity?

“To be honest, I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about this” Alya said in a disappointed tone “but I wanted to tell you that she is closer than you think. And who knows, maybe someday she will agree to tell you who she is”.

This felt right. Yeah, life is never easy with the things that are worth fighting and waiting for, and he would wait years for her. Still, the sound of disappointment in his voice was impossible to hide.

“I know she is, and I’d wait the time it takes for her to trust me enough, it doesn’t matter if it’s a thousand years” Adrien laughed. It was a nervous laugh, but at the same time a sincere one.

Alya laughed and then said in a sweet tone “Oh, I think she trusts you. Just give her time. I’ve got the feeling she just don’t want to mess things up. This is as important to her as it is for you.”

“You really think so?” his voice sounded more excited than he wanted it to sound.

“Yes, I’m sure of it.”

“But how can you be so sure?”

“There are times when you just know.”

 

Yeah, she was right, there are time when _you just know_.

Ten months passed really fast. His relationship with Ladybug flourished into a really _close and beautiful_ relationship. They’d now do more things together, and Ladybug was now part of his blog.

He was no longer afraid of she leaving him.

At this point, she being there for him was something normal, just as natural as breathing. He always kept the hope of someday meeting her in real life, but at the same time it finally felt enough. Or at least that’s how he felt in that moment, he was also afraid that once he met her, he would never get enough of spending time with her, but for now, just the presence of Ladybug in his life was enough.

And now, there was this new fear that would haunt him a couple of times every month. What if they didn’t get along in real life? Adrien had read a lot of text posts of people telling their experience of knowing people online and then after meeting in real life, realizing it was not the same.

Again, he tried to avoid thinking about it. There was no use of worrying about such things. 

Things would be the way they had to be.

From a couple of months Ladybug had been joking about revealing their identity. He knew this could be she trying to get used to the idea of revealing _her_ _true_ identity. He just needed to be a little more patient. He was so close to know her, to _really_ know her.

 

\--

One day, at an event Chloé’s father held, Adrien had too many canapes and glasses of wine.

To tell you the truth, he just wanted to avoid talking too much with Chloé. The last time they spent the evening together, she almost discovered his Tumblr. Chloé was pissed because he was smiling while replying a message from Ladybug. When she asked what was he doing, he panicked and hide his phone.

Chloé tried to steal his phone, but failed. Her anger didn’t fade though, and he was sure she would try to steal his phone if she had the chance, so he stopped using his phone around her.

Eventually Chloé had to spend some time with other guests and he used his time alone to reply to some messages Ladybug left during his time in the presence of Chloé. Up until that point of the evening, he had been eating and drinking non-stop, so he just realized how tipsy he was. He drank more that he was allowed to, that was for sure.

 

**Anonymous** said:

Hello, _my chaton_ , what are you doing in this lovely evening? Thinking of me? I came to drink some tea and eat some pastries with my best girl-friend. LB.

**Anonymous** said:

The truth is: I am guilty. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. They have this beautiful Black Cat themed pastry and I absolutely love it- Would you try it someday? And maybe think about me when you do. LB.

**Hello, _my lady_ , I am here missing you because I came to a party and I wish you could be here. And yes, I will try that cake, but I’d prefer something ladybug themed though.**

**Anonymous** said:

What, are you at a party? Is there any cute girl with a pretty dress I should be jealous of? LB.

**No, there is no girl in this planet that would look pretty to me, since the girl I love will always be you, my lady.**

 

Fuck. Adrien’s face turned red. He typed the answer really fast and without thinking too much he sent it. It was the first time he told Ladybug he loved her. He just fucked up.

He had said several times to her and to the world that he **_liked_** Ladybug, but saying you _**love**_ someone was different, at least to him. He knew he loved her, but he wanted to tell her privately when they met in person and not just randomly in a message when he was tipsy, available for the world to see.

He wanted to die. Ladybug stopped sending messages and he was worried. Maybe she felt offended in a way, since his flirting had never been so direct, and usually were told between jokes.

Later that night, he received a message he wasn’t brave enough to reply. It was his little treasure. It was the first time she said it, and even though they avoided talking about it in the future, he knew she wasn’t joking.

 

**Anonymous** said:

I’m glad to read that, since the boy I love will always be you, my sweet chaton. LB.

 

 

Ladybug always avoided talking about things such as love, and also she did her best to avoid the question “what is your relationship with Chat Noir?” fans loved to ask all the time. He would always answer with a simple “We are partners, we save Paris from evil black butterflies” and when Ladybug dropped an ask she would pretend she didn’t see those questions, even if he asked for her opinion.

Maybe she was the kind of person that overthink situations. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t want to get hurt. Did someone break her heart? Or maybe this was her first time falling in love and she was hesitant. Or maybe…

He couldn’t know for sure, but it didn’t matter in the end, he would treasure her and protect her for the rest of his life if she allowed him to. It didn’t matter if it was as a lover, or just as friends.

\--

Some months ago, Ladybug joked about telling him who she was in exchange of a selfie. He felt cold when he first read it, because revealing himself to the world would not only make his father angry, he would also be on all the newspapers and television news next morning, and most importantly, he would lose his safe space.

He immediately imagined his pictures in all the news the next day, talking about his Tumblr. The only scape he had from his real life, and his problems. In that moment, he understood how Ladybug might be feeling about revealing her identity. Maybe she didn’t want to spoil _her_ scape of reality.

But right in this moment, Adrien wasn’t feeling cold. He was feeling hot. His face must had been completely red, and his heart couldn’t be beating faster. He felt like crying of happiness.

 

**MiraculousLadybug** said:

_Hello,_ _my Chaton!_ _Wouldn’t you want to eat ice cream with me?_ **LB.**

It was from Ladybug, he was sure. Her pink beautiful nails, her stylized hand holding her favourite ice cream flavour and the bracelet he suggested her to buy so they could match. It was her, it was her! And finally, the message didn’t show the undesired “Anonymous” before the text. He couldn’t breathe for a moment when he realized the message came from the Fashion Princess. 

Some months before he considered her as a possible candidate to be Ladybug, he was so close at that time, but then he gave up and decided to not message her. What a fool.

He felt complete. In that moment he realized he felt the safest not because of his Tumblr or his anonymous mask on the internet. What made him feel the safest was Ladybug, the girl who after almost two years of knowing each other she finally decided to reveal her true identity.

It was like the time she said she loved him; something special, something he wanted to keep private. He decided to not reply and just send a direct message to her blog.

But yeah, it was easier said than done. He spent hours just staring at the new conversation without a single idea of what to say. He typed a long text expressing his excitement and before deciding to send it, he deleted the whole thing. He typed at least twelve different messages but in the end, he always deleted it before sending it.

He was super nervous, it was his first message to her, to not just Ladybug but to _Marinette_. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal for her, since her message was quite casual, but to him, oh boy, it meant the world.

He sighed when Natalie knocked his door to tell him it was time for him to practice piano.

He couldn’t contain his happiness. Natalie told him at the end of the session it was one of the most beautiful practices she had heard from him. She asked him if something happened that made him feel happy lately. He blushed and rushed to his room, telling her he was really tired and that it was nothing too special, he just suddenly felt a little happier.

He then remembered his promise about the selfie. For less than a second he felt cold, but then he felt warm again. _Marinette_ , it was for her. And she was worth it.

He took a selfie and posted it on his Tumblr. He wrote a simple “As I promise, my Lady” and added tons of hashtags expressing his excitement and happiness.

 

If he was lucky, Ladybug would send him a direct message first, maybe mentioning the selfie. Obviously, he couldn’t ask his luck to give him even more things. He received tons of messages and likes thanks to the selfie he uploaded, but nothing from his Ladybug.

Meanwhile, he spent a couple of hours going through Ladybug’s blog. It was full of her designs and her drawings. She also had a personal blog where she rebbloged things she liked and posted some pictures and texts of her daily life. Adrien knew this blog from a couple of months ago because it reblogged a lot of his posts, but it wasn’t linked to her art blog in any way.

To tell you the truth, Adrien had to really look for it. That blog was linked on an ask Marinette got in her art blog.

_Some years ago_.

Adrien was surprised to notice how careful she was with her Ladybug identity. Yeah, the name was the same, but she was careful to not post similar things of the ones she sent him. If someone had the theory Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, they wouldn’t be able to find solid proofs.

But there were traces of her Ladybug all over Marinette’s personal blog. Even in her art blog! Little small details he knew had special meaning for both of them. Cats and ladybugs were obviously some of those small details.

Oh, new notification. He almost choked.

 

**Anonymous** said:

My sweet chaton, are you ok? I’ve missed you today. LB.

 

It took him a couple of minutes to reply. He was really confused, why would Ladybug keep sending him anonymous messages if she had already revealed her identity as the Fashion Princess? As Marinette… It was easier to just send him a private message…

Unless she actually didn’t reveal herself. Maybe it was a prank message and he fell for it.

No, he was sure Marinette was Ladybug. But, was he really **_sure_** about it?

Oh damn, he was now embarrassed.

 

**Oh, my dear Buginette, I’ve missed you tons too! It makes me happy to know you miss me too, could it mean that you love me as much as I love you? Sometimes I think I can’t love you more… and then you go and do things that make me love you even more, and stronger. I’m starting to think my love for you will never end.**

Adrien was now waiting for her reply. Maybe she would ask about the ice cream submission. If she did, it meant it was really her. He hoped to get a new ask from her asking about the ice cream. Please, oh dear God, let him read the word ‘ice cream’ again.

 

**Anonymous** said:

Did you get my submission earlier? I was eating ice cream and I thought of you… but you never answered. I was worried something happened to you, because you didn’t post anything either. LB.

 

It only took seconds to write a reply to her this time.

 

**I received it Buginette. I promise to keep your secret, and I will do everything I said I’d do after knowing. You have no idea what it means to me.**

 

Adrien took some time to breath and digest what happened. Marinette, the Fashion Princess AND Ladybug were the same person. He opened her chat and sent a simple “Buginette, is that you?”.

He then closed everything and threw himself to bed.

 

Every second that passed from that moment until she replied felt like eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woa, this chapter was finished weeks ago, waiting for me to upload it. I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> I decided to make something special for the ending, since I'm actually an artist and not a writer. Hope you look forward to it!!! My vacations start this week so I'll finish both the small present and next chapter by Christmas!!! 
> 
> I am slowly getting back to writing again. To be honest, "Can we call this love?"'s new chapter is already written, but before uploading it I wanted to finish this one. 
> 
> Well, until next time!! 
> 
>  
> 
> Next Chapter: Beautiful Mistakes.  
> Marinette and Adrien meet in real life.


	3. Beautiful Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya ships Adrinette, Rose Nathanette and Juleka Lukanette. (jk)

Marinette’s face felt hot. Maybe she was dreaming, there was no way she had been texting Adrien Agreste for almost two years. She wasn’t that lucky.  
Or at least that’s what she thought up until that point.

She knew who Adrien Agreste was mostly because he wore his father’s designs. Gabriel Agreste was her favourite designer of all times, and he was probably the most prestigious fashion designer around the world. Alya had interviews with Adrien time to time and she always tried to make Marinette get interested on him, or at least it seemed like it. Alya only stopped when she admitted she was Ladybug.  
Alya would always tell her how nice Adrien was despite being extremely handsome and rich (And best friends with Chloé) and hinted he would be a perfect fit for her. At that time, she already knew she liked Chat Noir, so even when Adrien was handsome and maybe shared significant interests, her heart belonged to someone already. Adrien could be the most amazing man on earth and still, she would prefer Chat Noir. This had nothing to do about looks.  
But the reality was Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste. She only felt intimidated by it because he was the son of her favourite designer. What if people thought she had planned everything from the beginning, so she could have special treatment on contests? No, that’d be impossible since it was unknown Adrien was Chat Noir. She was overthinking.  
She took a deep breath.  
Chat Noir’s real-life identity was Adrien Agreste… She finally could put a face on Chat Noir.  
She had a vague idea of how Chat’s face would look like because of the memes and questions he answered. He was supposed to be really handsome (well, he didn’t lie), green eyes, blond hair and athletic body. He just never mentioned he was also a model but hey, she could have guessed it.  
Marinette smiled.  
“Adrien…”

\--  
Chat Noir  
10:03 P.M.

Buginette? Is that you? 

Miraculous Ladybug  
10:56 P.M.

Hey, Chaton. You didn’t have to put that photo online, you know. The world wasn’t ready to see how beautiful you are.

 

Chat Noir  
10:57 P.M.

OMG IT IS REALLY YOU.  
Pardon me, my lady. A gentleman always fulfils his promises. And I think you meant handsome. You, in other hand, are indeed beautiful.

Miraculous Ladybug  
10:57 P.M.

Tbh I accidently sent that message without activating the anonymous option… I didn’t really want to reveal myself like that.

Miraculous Ladybug  
10:58 P.M.

But please don’t get the wrong idea, I’m really happy. I’ve been thinking on telling you who I am anyways, but I wanted it to be special… I’m sorry kitty.

Chat Noir  
10:58 P.M.

Please don’t apologize, it is perfect because it is you, no matter how it happened.

Miraculous Ladybug  
10:58 P.M.

Awww, Chaton [heart emoji]

Chat Noir  
11:00 P.M.

And I wanted you to know that you don’t have to push yourself. I’m glad we know each other’s real names and all, if I could I would go anywhere to meet you right this instant… but I want you to feel comfortable with me first… All I want is you feeling comfortable with Adrien Agreste, the way you are with Chat Noir.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:01 P.M.

I am comfortable with you, whether you call yourself Chat Noir or Adrien Agreste… it’s the same to me. I hope you can be comfortable with Marinette as you are with Ladybug.

Chat Noir  
11:04 P.M.

The thing we call a rose would smell just as sweet if we called it by any other name. Ladybug would be just as perfect even if she wasn’t called Ladybug, lose your name. Trade in your name—which really has nothing to do with you—and take all of me exchange.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:05 P.M.

You dork [heart emoji]

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:07 P.M.

I trust your words. Just call me your love, and I will take a new name. From now on I will never be called Ladybug again.

Chat Noir  
11:07 P.M.

This is why I adore you [heart emoji] But technically I should be the one telling you that line, Juliet.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:08 P.M.

I don’t want us to end like Romeo and Juliet…

Chat Noir  
11:09 P.M.

We won’t. its not Romeo and Juliet’s story. It is Chat Noir and Ladybug’s love story. Exactly who we are is just enough.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:10 P.M.

Hahaha. There’s a place for us <3.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:11 P.M.

Can we meet?

Chat Noir  
11:11 P.M.

11:11 My lady. Make a wish. I wish for us to never be apart.

Miraculous Ladybug  
11:11 P.M.

I wish for the same thing.

 

\--

 

Marinette wanted it to be perfect. They agreed on meeting on a Sunday at a café during the afternoon. She had some deadlines coming up, so she didn’t sleep for two days. She was happy because she finished everything on time. She just needed to make some adjustments after her date with Adrien and then she could sleep a whole day.

She put on makeup, used her favourite perfume and her best white and blue dress. She had everything planned and her friends were kindly enough to help her organize a private meeting, since the media was focused in Adrien during that week.

Rose and Juleka worked together at a café during the weekends, and they agreed to keep the café open for a couple of hours after closing that Sunday, so Marinette and her mysterious lover could meet in private and have their date without anyone noticing it. Marinette was well known in that café due to her work as both designer and a baker, so the owners were more than welcome to allow them to use the place after closing.

“And where did you meet this guy, Marinette?” Rose asked in a dreamt voice.

Everyone was finishing painting some wooden boards. The view was Paris at night seen from a balcony, decorated with red roses and warm coloured candles. They would put them in the walls to make it look as if they were having a date outside.

“We knew there was someone already, by the way you stared and smiled at your phone all the time, but it’s the first time we see you planning one of your dates” Juleka added “and this is way more romantic than I originally thought it would be”.

“Yeah, Marinette” Alya started to say, teasing her “It’s almost as if you’ve been secretly dating this mysterious guy for almost two years now. Is this your anniversary dinner or something?”

Rose squealed in excitement and Juleka smiled.

“You have been dating him for two years????” Rose asked way more excited than Marinette thought possible.

“We are not dating!” Marinette blushed and started to move her hands in front of her in a strange way.

“That’s what’s she’s been telling herself all this time” Alya said.

“Woah, so there’s really a guy Marinette had been seeing all this time” Juleka was a little surprised.

“I can’t believe this day finally came!!!” Rose was really excited.

“But I’d be lying if I tell you I didn’t hope we ended up being family. You know what I mean?” Juleka giggled. 

Marinette immediately thought of Juleka’s brother, face completely red every time he saw her when they met.

Marinette blushed “I already told you, your brother and I are really good friends, but just that”

“Who knows, you met him after you met your secret prince. Maybe if things happened differently you would be having a dinner with Juleka’s brother instead” Alya teased. 

Luka was amazing. They met some months ago and they instantly became friends. But it was the same case as before, it didn’t matter how perfect Luka could be, her heart belonged to Adrien and Adrien only.

“I thought you and Nathaniel had something going on” Rose added.

“Nathaniel? What… no, no, we’re friends and we’re both artist. We never had anything going on, we just had some projects together” Marinette blushed again. Nathaniel was a really nice guy, people always told them they would make a beautiful couple, but she noticed every time someone said it Nathaniel went serious and quiet. Poor guy, maybe he was really bothered by it.

“Besides, Marinette deserves the best boyfriend ever. Both Luka and Nathaniel are nice but, are they nice enough to be the future husband of the next top fashion designer of the world?”

“Alya, stop” Marinette blushed even more.

“What a shame, Nathaniel and you looked so good together”

“I think you got the name wrong, Rose, my brother’s name is Luka”

“Well, are you going to help me to get everything ready or are we going to keep talking about other boys when I’m about to have dinner with my… my…” Marinette froze. What were they? Friends?

“I’m sorry Marinette I couldn’t hear that last word… You’re what again?” Alya teased.

Marinette choked, and everyone laughed. 

‘This will be the best dinner ever’ She thought as she they started hanging the freshly painted boards in the walls.

Maybe she didn’t reveal herself in a special way, but she was going to make sure their first time meeting in person was perfect. She was nervous, but everything was well planned and when she planned something, nothing went wrong.

 

An hour before the date, everything was finished. They were taking a break when the main door suddenly opened. It was Chloé. She had two cellphones in her right hand and she seemed tired and pissed. 

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed. You can come tomorrow if you—” Rose was quickly shut up.

“As if I would come here to drink coffee” Chloé said in the rudest way possible “Then, who’s the one.”

“I’ll have to ask you to leave” Juleka said in a strong tone, taking a step forward.

“I won’t leave until I met her” Chloé fixed her eyes on Marinette. She frowned as she stepped in “Marinette Dupain Cheng, why am I not surprised” Chloé’s eyes went from Marinette’s feet to her hair. Chloé made a disgusted face.

“Chloé…” Marinette whispered. There was fear in her voice. Every time Marinette met Chloé something wrong happened. She didn’t know why Chloé hated her so much, or when did it started, but she noticed it in a contest when Chloé accidentally pushed her and she hit the refreshments table and got all wet before the presentation.

“Chloé Bourgeois, we’re close. Unless you want to see your face in every news paper tomorrow morning talking about how the only daughter of the major trespassed a closed establishment and acted rude towards the staff, get out of here” Alya intervened.

“I won’t leave until I hear Marinette admit he’s making a fool out of my sweet Adrikins.”

“Adrikins? You mean Adrien? Adrien Agreste?” Rose gasped. Everyone knew they were best friends.

“No one is making a fool out of anyone. Now leave” Alya pressed.

“Adrien is a famous model, and the only son of the most prestigious designer of the whole world. Do you seriously want me to believe he suddenly wakes up someday and tells everyone he’s in love with someone? And that someone is no other than Marinette Dupain Cheng, future fashion designer who has been applying to every contest the Agreste brand has guested for the past years and don’t think that’s a little suspicious?”

“It’s not…” Marinette tried to explain everything before Chloé fully entered to the café and pulled the tablecloth, throwing everything in the table they just fixed for the date to the ground “Chloé, wait…”

“What is your deal with Adrien!? I won’t let anyone hurt him because some wannabe fashion designer wants to use him to get preference in the contests” Chloé was furious. She tried to grab Marinette by the hair when Alya took her by the arm.

“You’re going to leave this instant Chloé, or else I’ll call the police”

“This is none of your business, Cesaire”

“If you come and try to hurt my girl in any way, it is my business, Bourgeois” 

Chloé took a step behind, getting free from Alya’s hand “I will ruin her if she gets close to him.”

“You have no idea what’s going on Chloé, I advise you to go and talk with him first before you come and throw a tantrum and get yourself into trouble” Alya stepped forward, leading her to the exit.

“Wait, Alya it’s ok. I am not doing anything wrong, let me explain it to her” Marinette approached Chloé, making Alya step aside “I understand you can’t trust me, you’re Adrien’s best friend, but I assure you I have no intention of hurting him or playing with his feel—”

Chloé took one of the paint pots they used to paint the wooden boards and poured it all on Marinette “I don’t want to hear any of your lame excuses. You leave Adrikins alone or I’ll ruin you and your career, are we clear?” Chloé then turned and left the café.

Marinette was covered in red paint. Her hair, face and her beautiful white dress was ruined. The table was a mess, and everything was wrong.

“Are you ok Marinette?” Juleka hurried to see Marinette the moment Chloé poured the paint on her.

“Girl it’s ok, we can clean everything, and you can get ready before the date starts, there’s still time.” Alya put an arm in Marinette’s back.

“I don’t understand why Chloé is so mean…” Rose sobbed.

“No, I can’t see him like this…” Marinette said, with a broken voice.

“What? No, babe, we still have time, this is not ruined”

“This is wrong Alya, our first meeting has to be perfect. My dress, hair and make up is ruined, I need at least two hours to make it all right again. There’s paint to clean and we need to decorate the table again” Marinette tears started to fall as she trembled “I can’t meet him like this”

“We’ll clean everything while you go home to take a bath and get ready, we can do this Marinette” Rose added.

“No, I’ll change the day”

“You’ve been waiting all week for this day, we won’t let Chloé get away with this, babe” Alya was frustrated, not knowing what to say to make Marinette don’t give up.

“Please, just… let me make this my way. I am tired, and I need this to be perfect. I really do. Thank you so much for everything but I need to move the date to another day”

“Are you sure? Is there anything we could do?” Juleka asked.

“Everything’s ok, let’s start to clean this first…” Marinette walked towards the ruined table before Rose stopped her.

“We’ll take care of this. Alya, could you take her home?” 

“Sure. Are you sure you both can clean everything on your own?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about us we can handle it. Just take her home safe, ok?” Juleka said and Alya nodded.

“Let’s go Marinette.”

They took some paper to clean most of the red paint that was stuck in Marinette’s body and hair. She texted Chat Noir telling him she had to cancel because of a sudden emergency, but they could see each other next weekend. They walked home, not talking at all.

Alya stared at her, trying to say something and then regretting it before even saying something at all. She was worried, Marinette knew. But this time she needed to go home, cry, take a nap and get some work done before she could start planning her date again.

Marinette bit her lip. Everything was planned, everything was going smoothly. She wanted to meet Chat Noir in real life so bad… Tears came back and suddenly she was sobbing and then crying loudly. Alya hugged her and Marinette kept crying, as loud and heartbreaking as she had never cried before.

“I’m so sorry babe, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more” Alya’s voice sounded a little broken too. She was on the verge of crying as well.

“Why I am so unlucky?” Marinette cried and hugged her as if she was falling apart and only Alya could make her pieces stay in place. “Should I really stay away from him?”

“No, no, no dear, don’t say that. He loves you, you both deserve to be together. You both want it so much”

“I’m sorry Alya”

“You have nothing to apologize for, babe”

“You’re my best friend”

“You’re my best friend too, Marinette”.

 

Alya walked Marinette home and after staying for awhile and made sure Marinette was feeling better, she left. Marinette was tired and sad, but she couldn’t sleep. In the end she decided to work on some freelance she had to have her mind busy after fixing a couple of things in the project she worked on in the past two days. She would take a bath after she finished everything, or after she felt better and regained her need to get some sleep.  
Alya called a couple of times during the night, to see how she was doing, and sent a lot of texts.

Chat Noir’s reply sounded a little disappointed, but he wasn’t mad at her for cancelling at last minute. She wanted to talk with him, but every time she saw his username she remembered what happened that afternoon with Chloé and she started crying again, so she just put her phone away and worked all night.

 

It was 9 AM, she was almost finished with her work and she was feeling a little better. She promised herself she would send a message to Chat Noir, take a bath and then go to sleep. She was not in the mood for school, and it wasn’t completely wrong to take a day off every once in a while. She had told her parents she would be working all night, and that she’d help them in the bakery during the evening.

Marinette heard a distant yell from her mother saying she had a guest, and a couple of knocks on her door.

“Come in” Marinette said in a defeated tone. She told Alya to not come to check on her if she didn’t want her to die from anxiety. But well, its Alya we were talking about, her best friend.  
Marinette heard her door opening and closing.

“I told you didn’t have to come. I am alright, I’m about to finish these designs and going to bed” Marinette said with a tired voice, not even bothered to turn and see her friend.

“O-Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you…” a masculine voice said.

Marinette froze. She stopped breathing and turned as fast as she could and there he was, Adrien Agreste himself. Her face turned red. She tried to say something, but she freaked out and ended up stuttering. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands and tried to calm down until she could finally say, in a broken voice.

“Chat Noir….”

Adrien blushed “Ladybug…”

They just stood there for a while without saying a word. 

Marinette didn’t know what to do. She was wearing her pyjamas, had the makeup from last night, some red paint still in her hair, and she hadn’t slept for three days by then. She must be at her ugliest. How did Adrien know her address? It had to be Alya… and why did he come all the way here without telling her? They could meet at a café, after she took a shower and wore cute clo-  
“You’re beautiful”

Marinette couldn’t fight the tear that crawled down her cheek. Everything was wrong.

First, she didn’t want to tell Chat Noir she was Ladybug with some random message when she forgot to switch to anonymous. Second, she tried to meet him under the perfect circumstances and everything went wrong. She was ugly, tired and… he thought she was beautiful.

Adrien frowned in concern the moment he saw Marinette crying. He walked towards her and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Are you ok?” Adrien’s voice was warm and she could tell he was really worried.  
Marinette put both of her hands on her face and started sobbing. Adrien got closer, hesitating on giving her a hug.  
“I’m sorry, I just-” Marinette tried to sound as clear as she could, trying at the same time to stop sobbing “I just wanted to look pretty when we met for the first time… I wanted everything to be perfect, but in the end, nothing came up the way I wanted it”

Adrien’s hand ran through Marinette’s hair. He smiled, and his cheeks blushed a little.

“You are beautiful just the way you are. And just because we’re both here in the same room makes it special and perfect. I’m here and you are in front of me without the screen of my phone between us”

“I look ugly”

“You don’t”

“You just say that because you love me”

“Yeah… I…”

Adrien’s face turned completely red. He held Marinette in his arms. He took a big breath before he softly whispered into her ear.

“I love you”

Marinette started to cry for real this time. She ran her arms around Adrien and cried as she hide her face in Adrien’s chest.

“I love you too, I love you so much!” Marinette was trembling, trying to hold her tears “how can you not be mad? The memory of us meeting for the first time will be me crying in my pyjamas as you hold me, telling me that you… that you…” Marinette sobbed.

“That I love you, that I completely adore you and that it didn’t matter how it happened it’d still be perfect because meeting you is the best thing that could happen in my entire life”

“Why do you have to be like this??”

“Because I love you. I’m deeply and desperately in love with you”

“Stop! Hearing it makes me want to cry even more!”

“Do you love me, my lady?”

Marinette remained silent. She started to tremble even more.

“Don’t you love me… Marinette?”

With her heart racing faster that it had ever did, she slowly looked directly into his eyes, her eyes filled with tears and face completely red.

“I love you, Adrien” Marinette pouted, big tears ran through her cheeks, slowly and thick like in those Ghibli movies “I’m sorry if I ever told you meeting you was a mistake. I was wrong, it was the luckiest thing that could’ve ever happened to me”

“I don’t know, maybe it really was a mistake”

Marinette’s face tensed “Why would you think that?” a million reasons crossed her mind in a second.

Adrien smiled “it was such a beautiful mistake, isn’t it?”

Marinette smiled. He remembered. 

Maybe sometimes mistakes would lead you to a path where you can meet amazing people, such as Adrien Agreste… no… such as Chat Noir. Such as him.

Sometimes you don’t know how the real lives of people in the internet are like, but there is something completely certain, and it’s that behind all those posts, all those reblog, likes, videos and memes, there are real people, with feelings, amazing people that can change your life.

“Yeah” Marinette answered as she lost herself in her thoughts.

Have she had done something different? Maybe she would’ve. Maybe she would’ve told him her real name sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have been so afraid to tell him the truth. She could’ve done several things differently, but she knew deep inside of her she did exactly was she was supposed to do so she could be with Adrien in that precise moment. 

“Chloé told me what she did to you, I’m so sorry” Adrien said nervously “I’ve told her everything now, she’ll never do anything like that again in the future, I promise”

“It’s ok… she was worried about you”

“You were hurt, you were crying for what she did”

“Did Alya told you that?” Marinette was embarrassed.

“She didn’t have to, I know you” Adrien smiled, pressing his forehead in hers “She told me your address though”

“I’ll make her pay for it” Marinette giggled.

They stayed like that for a moment, forehead against forehead. Adrien caressed Marinette’s cheek before softly closing the gap between their lips. He just pressed them of a couple of seconds and then he pressed his forehead against hers again. His face was red, and his lips formed the most beautiful smile Marinette had ever seen.

It was all worth it, all the bad things that happened to her, the bad decisions she made through those two years and all the change that came after she followed him that day, after she sent the first ask, after she made it a habit out of it…

If it was a mistake, it was the most wonderful mistake that she could’ve ever made. Marinette smiled, and after sighing in relief she finally whispered.

“You are my most beautiful mistake”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support!!! I can't believe this thingy still gets kudos after not being updated for so long.  
> Thank you again, I love you guys so much!  
> Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired on a crush I have on a Tumblr user who wrote one of my favorite ML's fluff fics!
> 
> The crush is merely platonic, but it was strong enough to make me write something. I am too shy to say something to her, so I'll just say: Thank you for existing and writing that fic. It really made me happy as you updated it and every time I see a post from you on Tumblr I can't stop smiling. Maybe you'll never read this, but I'm glad I found you.


End file.
